Hubble Ultra Deep Field © NASA/Hubble
There are about 10,000 galaxies in this image.
There is still so much to learn...
Copyright © 2025
by Ralph F. Couey
Like most writers, I have a lot of curiosity. Most of that occurs in the normal pace of life. I'll notice something and ask myself, " Why is that there?" or "How does that work?" and especially, "How and why did that happen?" Those questions trigger in my brain a restless little gnome that proceeds to run around wildly in its allotted space, shouting for attention. That tiny imp won't sit down and shut up until I've at least tried to answer the questions.
In the ancient, dusty past, that meant a trip to a library, sometimes at a university, to spend hours flipping through card catalogs, followed by repeated trips into the stacks to chase down sometimes obscure tomes containing the information I would be seeking, hoping that someone hadn't checked it out. Then I had to sit down and read the book and take notes. This is a process that would take hours, sometimes days. Younger folks these days, spoiled by the Internet have no clue about the sheer drudgery and frustration of research.
The problem with books is that events move so fast these days that they're instantly obsolete once published. Today, the world is literally available in our hands or even on our wrists. I am constantly reminded and amazed that humans landed on the moon using a computer that was many times less powerful than my smartwatch. The problem with such an avalanche of information is successfully judging the veracity of sources. The 'Net is full of stupid people saying idiotic things, and care must be taken to ensure factual truth and not be taken in by an attractive stream of rhetoric. That takes time, patience, and even courage, all of which seemingly are in short supply these days.
